Speaker's Digest February 2003

In this issue:

• Final Thoughts on President Bush's State of the Union
• Tips for Delivering Written Speeches
• Presentation Choreography: Handling Handouts

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Final Thoughts on President Bush's State of the Union

Thanks to all for the tremendous response to “Rate the President 2003”.  If you haven't seen the results, go to www.ems-communications.com/results.

To put the finishing touches on this issue until next year, we’d like to share our brief observations on the president's delivery by looking at a key STRENGTH, a WORK IN PROGRESS, and an aspect that NEEDS WORK, without bringing personal politics into the picture.  We encourage you to incorporate these lessons into your own presentations.

STRENGTH:  Pauses
We agree with our readers that President Bush’s extensive use of pauses added impact to his message in the State of the Union.  He paused often, for extended periods of time, allowing time for listeners to consider his words, and helping us remember his key points afterward.

WORK IN PROGRESS:  Energy
When it comes to delivering a powerful, energetic message, we see President Bush as a work in progress.  He certainly has been coached since his campaign days, and has begun to turn up the conviction level of his speeches; however, there’s room for plenty more.  Of course there are times when he needs to be calm and subdued, but in most cases, he can use more vocal variety and add some punch to key words and phrases, especially at the end of sentences.

NEEDS WORK:  Gestures
If the President wants to turn up the energy, gestures would be a great way to get him going.  For most of us, the more energy we use, the more our hands will gesture.  The reverse is also true—when we try using more gestures, vocal variety automatically increases.  Instead of resting his forearms on his notes, we’d encourage Mr. Bush to bend his elbows and keep his hands poised to move, letting his gestures come up where we can see them.

For more tips that you can incorporate when delivering a speech, keep reading!

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Tips for Delivering Written Speeches

Although we strongly believe the best way to present is in your own voice, there are situations where you may deliver a speech that's written out word-for-word.  In those situations, here are some tips to maximize your speaking effectiveness:

Don’t lean on the lectern.  It’s only there to hold your notes, not to help you keep your balance.  Stand 6-10 inches back, avoid the tendency to grip the sides of the lectern, and allow yourself to gesture naturally.

Avoid swaying from side to side.  This nervous-looking movement is magnified when you’re standing behind a lectern, almost giving the impression of a speaker standing on the deck of a ship at sea.  To prevent this, plant your feet and balance your weight evenly on both hips.  Practice by standing on a large piece of paper (during our workshops, we refer to this as "paper training".)  When you hear the paper crinkling beneath your feet, you'll become much more aware of your tendency to sway.

Move away from the lectern.  When inserting a story or example into your speech, or when answering questions, allow yourself to move out of your "comfort zone" and approach the audience.  This changes a formal speech into a more informal conversation, and helps a speaker connect with the listeners.  When it's time to get back to your script, take a long pause as you walk back, plant your feet, and continue on with the speech.  Of course this tactic works best when you are wearing a wireless microphone.

Don’t hold onto your speech.  Not only does this limit the number of gestures you use, but it also can magnify any nervous feelings (when the audience sees the paper shaking in your hands!)

Don’t staple your pages together.  The microphone will magnify the sound as you flip pages.  Instead, keep your speech in a pile on the right edge of the lectern, and as you approach the end of a page, gently slide the paper to the left.  In this way you'll smoothly be able to transition from one page to the next.

Maintain eye contact.  Look to all parts of the room, not just straight ahead, and turn your shoulders accordingly.  If you only shift your eyes, you may appear “shifty” (especially if your face is projected up on a big screen!)

Use a large-size font and double spacing.  Formatting your speech this way makes it much easier for you to look down and find your place as you're reading.

Add markings to your script for pauses and emphasis.  Keep a red marker on hand as you rehearse your speech.  When you come to an appropriate place for a short pause, add a slash (/) to your script.  For long pauses, add a double-slash (//).  Underline words or phrases that you want to deliver with more energy.  Marking your speech in this way will help you sound like you're speaking as opposed to reading.

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Presentation Choreography: Handling Handouts

A real-life nightmare you might recognize:

You’re feeling great about the presentation you’re about to give in the boardroom of your best business prospect.  You’ve practiced your talk, you believe in the benefits of the proposed program, you look great, and you have a great speech that’s sharp, persuasive and even funny.  You also have a pile of first-rate handouts put together by your office that describe your suggestions in great detail.

You arrive, distribute your handouts and start your talk.  You immediately try to make eye contact with the VIPs in your room, but they’re not even watching you.  Instead, they’re leafing through your handout, and jumping forward to the budget on the last page.  No one laughs at your opening because they’re not really listening, and no matter what you try, you can’t hold their attention.

Back to reality.  Handouts are appropriate for many types of presentations.  But all too often people forget that, as the speaker or presenter, you are the choreographer of the presentation, and that the thoughts coming from your mouth are potentially the most powerful communications tools in the meeting.  Instead of drawing in the audience using their personal skills, we’ve seen speakers try to use handouts, slides or overheads that literally confuse the audience as to where they should focus their valuable attention.

Deciding how to use handouts or aids is a vital part of developing your presentation, as important as the content of your message.  How can you work with handouts in a way that strengthens your message rather than detracts from it?  Here are some thoughts to aid in your planning.

After vs. before. No one ever said that you need to pass handouts out right away.  Decide in advance at which point you will distribute your handouts. There’s great power in walking in with a thick handout, setting it in a pile next to you, and referring to its contents as “the details.”  You then get to talk about vision, ideals, big picture, and benefits.  Remember, as the presenter, you are in control about how and when you want to share the contents of your document.

Handouts as aids.  If you decide to pass them out ahead of time, use your handouts as part of your speech.  Make them easy to follow, professionally bound with numbered pages, organized copy and even your client’s logo if that’s appropriate.  Then, refer to specific pages (“as you can see here on page four . . .”), reach across the table to point at something in your listener’s packet, or hold up your own copy to make a point.

Keep everyone on the same page.  Once you hand out your document, you can’t really keep people from flipping through pages or doodling in it.  But you can make the effort to keep your audience with you, which will often help them better focus on the points you make.  Use these interpersonal skills to keep your listeners with you:

Humor (“remember, no fair reading ahead!”);
Passion (“Here's the most exciting benefit for you”);
Conviction (“How can you look at these statistics and not wonder if there’s a better way?”);
Confidence (“as our credentials on this page demonstrate, we know our job and we do it well”).

Don’t confuse your audience.  Don’t expect people to read complicated copy while they’re listening to you.  Whether you use a PowerPoint presentation or printed pages during your talk, keep them simple and use them to punctuate your main points.  Give them the detail-bound handout with spreadsheets and explanations for later reference.

Bottom line, you can give great presentations with or without handouts.  Just make sure that you put some advance thought into how you will integrate them into your meeting.  You’ll like the results.

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